aidas in oz

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T21:52:00.000-07:00

This was by far the best Halloween ever. It is so much more fun with kids. And it is even more fun when the kid gets whats going on. After 2 trunk or treats, a costume party and then the actual trick or treating, Rhys was really getting the hang of it. It was so fun. My owls are the cutest little things ever!

and we're off

2009-06-10T11:09:00.000-07:00

...To another blog that is. Come join us please!

http://theaidas.blogspot.com/

all the rave

2009-06-05T09:57:00.000-07:00

I was never one big into rice pudding, but this wonderful creation has me hooked. Our friends, the MacLennans, introduced us to this delicious treat that is dare I say... better than Pinkberry. A must try for all those pudding lovers and skeptics alike.

another [dilemma]

2009-06-04T20:10:00.000-07:00

my inability to spell anything bigger than my name [and even that ive been know to screw up]

thats what i get for blogging in the middle of the night. in all honesty, though, it probably didnt make much of a difference. spelling is not my strong point...

delema

2009-06-03T02:08:00.000-07:00

whats a girl to do when her husbands computer is broke/retarded and he needs to use her computer all day for more important things than her blogging and facebook addiction, like studying for the BAR, perhaps the most important test of his life?... use it at 2am, while you curse the fact that he is fast asleep in the other room.

another fabulous weekend

2009-06-03T02:01:00.000-07:00

This time some of our best friends came in to town to spend 4 glorious days! We haven't seen them in almost a year, as they live in SLC. They came out to meet Rhys and catch up on playing like we used to when we all lived in Eugene. We pulled out all our best material on Brooke and Ryan to intice them to move back to the northwest. Friday was spent paddleboarding and eating at Cheesecake Factory. Saturday was spent back down at our Oasis, and Sunday relaxing and enjoying the 90 degree weather. Sounds like a perfect weekend to me!

Rhys was loving the super cute blanket brooke had made him

memorial day weekend

2009-05-26T21:03:00.000-07:00

[nap time]

[justin studying hard for the bar]

what better way to spend a beautiful memorial day weekend than swimming at your own little oasis... also known as my aunts house. Rhys has had his first couple sleep-overs and does so well. not to mentions he Loves sleeping outside! he will take naps for so much longer and better if he gets to have some fresh air.

1 month young

2009-05-21T20:51:00.000-07:00

pics from the weekend

2009-05-20T14:03:00.000-07:00

"what are you lookin' at?"

snugglin' with uncle james

*WINK*

snugglin' with daddy

so upset!

the graduate

2009-05-19T13:37:00.001-07:00

Justin graduated from law school this weekend! Yeah! I'm so proud of him and cant believe how fast the past 3 years have flown by! Now on to studying for the BAR. And before we know it, real life kicks in when he starts working in September! Then we are on to a 40 hours work week, 2 weeks vacation, and hopefully a mortgage! Iim going to miss spring break, christmas vacation and summer's off! Oh, real life should be reevaluated!

Justins family came out for the event and to meet Rhys. It was great having them here and seeing how much they adored him already. My dad also came up, he doesnt need much of an excuse to come visit his currently favorite grandson and family.

welcome to the family!

2009-05-19T13:05:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited for our first triathlon together!

adios adidas

2009-05-14T14:59:00.000-07:00

[J hard at work on the soccer field during lunch]

[Shaq's old shoes]

[I would really like to be the lucky lady who works at that desk! I would gladly show up to work everyday, but probably get nothing done!]

Justin had his ast day at Adidas and turned in his employee badge. We are sure going to miss those discounts!

bath time

2009-05-13T14:57:00.001-07:00

growing

2009-05-13T14:51:00.000-07:00

weighing in at 7 lbs. 2 oz. Im such a big boy now!

a day for mothers

2009-05-10T14:25:00.000-07:00

to all the fabulous mothers and women... May you feel special for all your hard work, unconditional love and selfless devotion.

2 weeks

2009-05-06T13:32:00.000-07:00

his nursery/ guest room... so if you could get up with him when you come visit...
Just kidding!

All about my boy

2009-05-06T13:28:00.000-07:00

-You sleep a ton! Its hard to get pictures with your eyes open because you still sleep so much
-You get the biggest smile right before you poop!
-you are the noisiest eater. You act so ravenous when your hungry with this manic head shaking thing
-you hate getting your diaper changed! But hate sitting in a dirty diaper even more
-not such a fan of the swaddling thing either. You would much rather just be covered.
-you have big beautiful gray blue eyes.
-You follow mine and daddy's voice when we talk to you.
-you have been gaining weight like a champ!
-you get hiccups several times a day!
-you are the spitting image of your dad
-you have the longest little arms and legs, no wonder you were cramping up my ribs
-I can put you down, and you will often put yourself to sleep.
-You make all kinds of noises when you sleep
-you like to sleep with your arms above your head
-you are such a good snuggle bug, you fit right in
-you are already so spoiled with our love and attention, but dont worry, that will never stop

BTW

2009-05-01T14:00:00.000-07:00

Looks like the crazy lady from JoAnn's isnt so crazy after all, considering he came just over a week later. I still think all comments on her part should be kept to herself.

FaMiLy

2009-05-01T12:56:00.000-07:00

2009-04-29T03:55:00.000-07:00

Dear sleep,

I miss you.

-Kelly

going home

2009-04-23T12:46:00.000-07:00

Rhys finally got discharged on thursday and how exciting it was to get back home. My dad and brother flew up on Monday to meet the little man.

My mom came up on to help us get used to taking care of him at home

Meeting koda

details

2009-04-22T07:13:00.000-07:00

so a bit more detail... things are starting to settle down for us. Poor little guy has had a rough few days, but it such a champ! So labor started Saturday morning, contractions pretty regular but not too intense. It lasted for the next 2 days... and 2 long nights... before we rushed in to the hospital around 6am Monday morning. A few hours later, he came! He was having some respiratory distress when he came out so they had to run him into NICU. They gave him some oxygen, hence the reason for all the tubes, just to make sure everything is ok and let him adjust to life a little easier. He was weaned off it later Monday night and has been doing great ever since. Hes still in NICU with a few eating issues, like not hungry, but he is getting so much better with that too! Hopefully we get him within the next few days! But he really is doing great and all the Dr.'s say he that he has been making huge improvements. So I get discharged today and we are still waiting to here about him.

So yesterday, he had his first modeling gig! The people from Philips electronics have some new baby monitors and wanted to use a baby in their pics, and the guy chose Rhys! It was so funny to see him at 1 day old getting his pic taken!

Now, his name... It sounds like "Reece" but in Australia, they spell it this way. And since he's our little Ausie baby, we thought it only appropriate! Im thinking no one ever guessed it!

Oh, and dont be so hard on Justin. Once the epidural kicked in, I was able to take a much needed break and he used that time to inform everyone of the impending outcome! He is the best person I could have had at my side, and did so much to help and keep me calm! And his Adidas job found out and gave him the rest of the week off, which considering this was his last week working there, he now has nothing to do but hang out with us till the end of May because he is all done with school!!! YEA!!

introducing...

2009-04-21T19:25:00.000-07:00

Rhys Hideki Aida

wt: 6 lb 1 oz

length: 21 in.

Baby on the Way

2009-04-20T09:43:00.000-07:00

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This is Justin, I never write on this but Kelly is a bit pre-occupied right now since she is in labor!!! So far so good, Kelly is dilated to an 8 and the doctor feels the baby should be well on its way. Bless her heart, when we got here she was already at 7, but was holding out so I could get some more sleep in. We both are a bit surprised (and a little unprepared) though since he wasn't supposed to come till May 8th. Hopefully, his crib will arrive in the next few days. Till then he'll have to bunk down with mom and dad. Well, I better go. Tune in soon as I will give play by play from the birth canal.... or maybe just some post birth pictures.

hate mail

2009-04-11T13:08:00.000-07:00

Dear Lady at the Joanns Fabrics,

Next time you ask someone how far along they are in their pregnancy, please engage inner monologue if you plan on telling them, "Your huge!" Especially if you plan to follow that comment up with "Really, your only eight months? I would have guessed any day now!" In fact, when meeting someone for the first time, stick to small talk topics where you are likely not to offend them, such as their favorite slurpee flavor. All topics relating to weight, age, and overall appearance should be avoided like the plague. And if everyone in the line looks at you with shock and disdain, please stop all further comments relating to that subject. Because if I wasn't initially so shocked to think of any other reaction than to laugh, I would have crawled over the little counter separating us to strangle you after I bawled my eyes out! Just a thought.

Kelly

weekend recap

2009-03-29T13:29:00.000-07:00

this boy is happiest in the water! He finaly got to try out his christmas present. He has been patiently waiting for a chance to try the paddle board, and in the 2 hours of no rain this weekend, he got his chance in the Willamette River. I'm pretty eager to try it out too, but there was no way I was getting into that water, it was soo cold!

He also joined a local Ausie Rules Football team and they had their first game this weekend. He was so excited, he could control his urge to tackle everyone who got near him. That includes taking down this kid into a huge puddle! It was hilarious!

"good on 'ya mate!"

4 fabulous years

2009-03-26T11:42:00.000-07:00

after 4 fabulous years, i love...

waking up next to you
snuggling on the couch
our long talks in the car
learning even more about you
our crazy adventures
making you laugh
your drive for life
making you happy
your cheeseball smile
our little family
every moment I'm with you
that you make me want to be better

you more now than ever!

After all this time, you are still the man of my dreams. Cheers to 4 fantastic years and an eternity to come!

i HEART california

2009-03-17T18:27:00.001-07:00

What a great trip! Not only did I get to see my wonderful family and friends, but my mom is an amazing party planner and threw me the best shower ever! I was so overwhelmed with all the people who came (some I havent seen in like 7 years) and their generosity, I cannot begin to send out enough thank you's! This little boy is already so loved and goint to be one stylish kid! - Unfortunately, I have only 1 picture because my moms camera stinks and they all have funky lines running through them :( I got to spend about 3 days with one of my best friends, who also happens to be due with her first little girl 2 weeks after me (talk about perfect planning). It was so fun to compare bellies, and all the "joys" of being prego since this is all new territory for both of us. There was LOTS of baby talk- sorry Lynds, who had to endure it over lunch- but it was the best! We played in Rancho and San Clemente (who doesnt love a beautiful day at the beach in the winter).

My Uncle and his family were in town from UT as well, so it was fun to see them and my cute cousins. They ADORED Justin. He is going to be the best dad ever!

My grandpa from Canada (my moms dad) was also in town and made it out for a great evening with us. Hes a big cowboy, and Justin loves getting him going about life back home on the cattle ranch.

2009-03-03T10:01:00.000-08:00

"We've been on the run, driving in the sun, looking out for number one. California here we come..."- phantom planet

I am so ready for 10 days in So Cal.

happy february

2009-02-25T10:26:00.000-08:00

So i know this is a short month, but is anyone else shocked to think its almost march?? As in 3 days away, I'm still trying to figure out what happened to January. Anyways, life has been rather uneventful, in a good relaxing kind of way.

We finally got all settled into our new placeand have learned all its quirks (including the leaky toilet. And by leaky I mean out from the bottom of the bowl onto the floor that they tried to tell us it was just condensation gathering. But I have lived in Oregon long enough to know that guy was full of crap!) It is a 2 bedroom house, but considering our bed is more like a small spaceship, our bed and dressers dont fit into the same room. So it turned out more like our sleeping room and our dressing room across the hall. But we love it! It sits on a half acre of protected wooded land and in a great neighborhood (in that we live in the crappiest house on the block), but even better that we get lake rights to use Lake Oswego. view from our kitchen window

Valentines day weekend was great! We have never bought into the flowers/gifts/fancy dinner-ness of the day, so we play it down big time. We trade off who plans something (really meaning "who makes dinner") But this year Justin had the best idea that I think will be the tradition. On our first date we went to a whole-in-the-wall place in Huntington that had cheap burgers and corndogs, followed by watching the olympics games in Athens, where Justin fell asleep. (He didnt want to set the bar too high for himself...) Not that this place was any good, but little did he know I LOVE corndogs! So to celebrate, we went out to Hot dog on a stick at the local mall. YUMMY! The next day we went down to my aunts house in Salem. We finally got to go play doubles tennis again which was a blast! We had an amazing feast of BBQ ribs -complete with grandmas homemade BBQ sauce-, baked brie goodness, and a desert that was oh-so-good! I like to call it creamcheesy-lemony-blueberry delight! (Did I mention my aunt is an amazing chef??) It was excellent! And the weather here has been great! I think it only rained like 10 days in the whole month, which left the rest to be beautiful sunny and warm. Well, if you call 50 degrees warm. Koda and I typically go to the park every day before or after our walk. But since we only have one car, I drop off and pick up Justin almost everyday. I dont mind at all because here, the commute is only 20 minutes, and when there is realy bad traffic around 5, it only takes 30! I heart Portland! Here is our beautiful city at sunset taken while driving on top of a bridge. Now that I think about, probably not the best idea, but I thought it was so pretty.

Also My friend Clara and her adorable little boy came into town, so we got to spend some time with them. We were able to go to Eugene for a few hours on Sunday and have church and a feast with the Callisters. It was so good to see everyone again!

Life is busy as usual.

2009-02-07T13:45:00.000-08:00

These past few weeks have been so hectic. Trying to find a place to live, Justins birthday, moving into our new house, Great Grandpa's funeral, unpacking and getting ready for life in Portland. One day I will no longer have to mass update... one day. But for now, here it goes.

baby update

2009-02-07T12:27:00.000-08:00

Its rolling along. I look prego, feel prego, and cant believe how fast its all going. I jump everytime he kicks. It gets me everytime! We are so excited for him to come, but it still is unreal that he will be mine forever. This will be my family and there is no turning back now. Heres the belly at 25 weeks.

settling in

2009-02-07T12:23:00.000-08:00

we got a new house to rent for the next few months. Its in a great neighborhood in Lake Oswego. 2 exits from the temple and only 25 minutes from justins work at adidas. We love it and are busy busy unpacking. And let me just say its like christmas going through all our boxes. I havent seen any of it since May and forgot about so many things. We have thrown out tons of stuff though, thinking if we havent needed it or thought about it in 8 months, we probably dont need it anymore.

a really great grandpa

2009-02-07T12:08:00.001-08:00

On January 26th my great grandpa passed away at the age of 99 1/2. He was such a wonderful man and mentor. I loved listening to his stories of life and love. He led such a fulfilled and interesting life. From serving in the army to med school and raising 5 wonderful children, it was such a celebration of his life. I have some great memories of chasing jack rabbits with him through mud, getting our shoes stuck, and spending hours on the front porch digging all the mud out. He always took the time to tell you how special you were to him and never did you have a conversation that wasnt full of laughter and jokes. He loved a good practical joke and had a great sense of humor. Never once did he complain about his aches and pains, and he always wanted you to think he was doing better than before. Last time I talked to him before we went to Australia, he told me he gained 30 lbs and was feeling much better. He had made it to great great grandpa status with my niece and just barely missed our little guy. I would have loved to have a picture of them together, but I know we will all be together again some day. May he rest in peace along side his beautiful wife Ruth and we are all so glad for their reunion.

It is so much fun when all the Armstrongs get together, but it is not nearly often enough.

justin playing with my cute niece.

the big 2-9!

2009-02-06T09:55:00.000-08:00

This year I wanted to make Justins birthday way special because he has been the best husband ever. Daily I cant believe how lucky I am to have such a wonderful man to share my life with. He truely is my best friend. Life could not be any better. I can't wait to see him as a daddy and I cant believe this is the last birthday we will have as just the 2 of us. So I enlisted the help of my family to help surprise him with a big breakfast because that night after work we would be unloading our truck of crap into our new place. It went down like clock work. He didnt even notice I was missing from our bed while he was getting ready. The look of shock on his face was I'm sure from the pure shock of seeing me out of bed at 6:30 am. We decorated the nook, wrapped up some presents, and made him a big stack of pancakes and fresh blueberry delight.

He was so surprised by his new kite board.

the final days

2009-02-02T09:53:00.000-08:00

kiwi 360, yummy ice cream, Whakatane and another long day in the car that started to make us crazyGisbourne, day at the beach, we met up with the twin brother of a missionary who served in our ward in Adelaide who is serving in Gisbourne. Justin had a 6 hour kite boarding lesson.

We stopped in Napier, but kept going on to Taupo. My Aunt and Uncle did a jet boat ride, while Justin and I hung out because Im not allowed to go... something about dangerous for the baby or something, I wasnt really listening... Hike to a hot spring, a swim for justin in lake Taupo, and bunkbeds for our accomidations! Our last day, we ended in Raglan for one last surf day for Justin. It turned out to be really great, and he caught the longest wave I think I have ever seen! he was riding for like 30 sec and we could tell he was exhusted by the time it was done. But it was the best send off to a great trip!

unfortunately, the flight home was so turbulant. Other than singing to myself to keep from freakin out that the plane would soon be headed downward for a real life "Lost". We made it back, had a whirlwind three days with my family in CA, and are finally back in Oregon. Now back to reality.

NZ cont.

2009-02-01T17:57:00.000-08:00

More highlights: this week Justins dad went home and my Aunt and Uncle from Oregon came out to spend 10 days with us and drive drive drive! I think we put on over 3000 km onto the car, but it was so fun to see so much of the country.

Driving up the 90 mile beach. Justin's dad was loving it. We were cruising at like 120 km/hr (like 75 mph) on the sand highway at low tide. He kept saying, "This is tremendous! Go faster!" Justin was white-knuckled driving the car, and then he found out we had to drive up a creek to get out. You cant stop because its like quicksand, and luckily we didnt get stuck in this rental car forbidden area.

Boat and Catamaran to one of the islands in Bay of Islands. We hiked up to the lookout of the island, and sailed back to the harbour.Standup paddle boarding in Whatawhiwhi (pronounced fata-fee-fee). We found a beautiful cove, and met a great couple from England who was going to give Justin a kite boarding lesson, but the winds weren't right, so we paddle boarded instead. And enjoyed the best blueberry cake ever from the Reef Inn!

The boys went fishing for Red Snapper, girls slept in, we went kayaking arouns some of the islands in the bay, and feasted on our catch for one of the best dinners of the trip.

Whiritoa

Dear 2009

2009-01-20T09:15:00.000-08:00

Welcome.

Well, I wont lie. You have a tough act to follow, 2008 was pretty stinking awesome. I couldn't have planned it better beforehand. Now dont get intimidated, I have high hopes for you too. Life as we know it will change in more ways than one. Baby boy will come under your watch, a long awaited graduation will finally occur, hopefully a home to call my own in there, and maybe a few suprises for us both.

I will miss '08, it was a good time, but I look forward to you '09 with the same enthusiasm I look back with. If you can, could you please come and go a little slower than 2008 did.

Kelly

2009-01-15T19:13:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I am going to get all our pictures of the last half of our trip through NZ uploaded in the next few days and just be done with it! Here it goes...

a visit from Justin's dad

2009-01-15T19:02:00.000-08:00

Justins dad was able to come visit us in NZ for about 10 days over Christmas. We flew down to Wellington and spent the whole time driving back up to Paihia. The highlights are:

Te Papa Museum in Wellington

Hiking up Ruapehu Volcano on Christmas day: Hide was having so much fun sliding down the snow, and finding a christmas snowman Trout fishing on Lake Taupo: taupo is world famous for trout and fly fishing, our biggest catch was over 50cm, then our hotel cooked them up for us and we feasted! It was so good! Our boat hire also took us to these Maori rock carvings on the lake. We also went kayaking, but I forgot my camera... boo!
Rotorua- Hide grew up in a geothermal town in Japan, so the sulfur smell of rotten eggs soothed him. I on the other hand, with this superpowers sense of smell, spent the whole day trying not to vomit. Justin was the chief at the Maori show we watched, he did the hongi (no, hes not about to kiss the guy) which is a traditional way of saying hello by touching noses. Its their way of kissing cheeks. It litterally translates to "sharing of breath".

Going out to Bridal Veil falls and Raglan: no surf, again, so we didnt stay long...

a day for Justin

2009-01-05T02:19:00.000-08:00

He finally got to play with a full sized kite in Gisborne. It took a few days of waiting for the right conditions, but isnt he too cute when hes so happy!

the belly

2009-01-02T00:23:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post. We are having a blast and down to our last week away from home, so expect lots of filling in when we get home! But, heres the belly pic. This was about 21 weeks. I am feeling him all the time, which is a really weird feeling for sure.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

2008-12-22T23:11:00.000-08:00

its a... BOY!! We had an ultrasound while we were in Hamilton, and it was pretty obvious. It was unreal to see him rolling around in there. He yawned, sucked his thumb and was doing summersaults while we watched. Everything looks great, all the right things are in the right places, with 10 fingers and 10 toes and a good steady heartbeat. We could not be happier, and are so excited to have this little guy out with us.

week in Hamilton

2008-12-22T22:37:00.000-08:00

We spent the week with our old Bishops family, who recently moved back from Fountain Valley. Justin has been dying to sruf Raglan with him since they met, and he sure got his chance. They went almost everyday we were there. It was so nice to have a place to stay for a whole week. No packing and moving. It made us both a bit homesick.

While there we enjoyed the Hamilton Temple christmas lights. The whole city, members and non alike, show up everynight to see the beautiful lights. It really sprung on the Christmas spirit.

We also spent a day at the Botanical Gardens, which for a town of 300,000 was very impressive. Our favorite gardens were the Indian and Italian. And this is my new favorite flower, but I have no idea what it is. Justin wants a big pool like the Italian one, but with lane lines and about 25m long, and lots of colored flowers like the Indian garden.

india inspired garden
italy inspired garden

South Island cont.

2008-12-15T23:34:00.000-08:00

Day 3: We got to go to Milford Sound. This is a massive fiord (a valley cut by glaciers) within the fiordland national park of NZ. It is stunning and seriously pictures don't do it justice. It is about a 4 hour drive from Qtown, so we opted for a plane flight over southern alps to a boat to cruise throught the sound. So stunning. After our flight and cruise, we drove to Mt. Cook/Aoraki just in time to see the tallest mountain in NZ by sunset.

Day 4: We hiked around to Mt. Cook base to get a closer look at the massive mountain. Then later that day we took these kayaks on a glacial lake and over to icebergs and the glaciers terminal face, or where the glacier ends. They also had this museum on Sir Edmund Hilary, who is a kiwi and was one of the first 2 people to ever climb Mt Everest.
Day 5: Today we had to drive 6 hours to the other side of the mountain (literally only 15 miles from where we were) so we could play on some of the only glaciers in the world that are still growing. On the way, we stopped in Wanaka at Puzzle World to play in a human maze. It is really amazing how the west side of the mountains is like a rainforest while the east side is more like farm land. Day 6: I think this day was everyones favorite. We took a helicopter up the Fox Glacier and hiked around it for a few hours. We found some awesome ice caves to crawl through and the glacier terrain is unreal. Day 7: We went 15 km down the road to the Franz Joseph glacier and hiked to the terminal face, well as close as we could get. These massive glaciers move so quickly. I think they said around 2 meters a day, which is like 6 ft. We got back in the car for another 6 hr drive over Arthurs pass to Christchurch. This was a really pretty drive through the northern part of the alps. Day 8: This morning we were up at 4am to be picked up and go on a hot air balloon. I have always had a fear them, like we would get blown into a crazy mountain side or go way to high and the basket would break or something totally crazy. I dont know why, but the whole time I was silently freakin out. It was really amazing and the views were incredible. We had the largest balloon in all NZ and the 5th in the world. It was massive. I dont know why but I always thought of them like slightly bigger birthday balloons. Good to know its a bit more sophisticated than that.

Day 9: We spent the day in Christchurch, which isnt as cool as Queenstown, but still a beautiful city. Our flight back to Auckland was today and my families flight home so we relaxed as much as possible.

The End...well of that leg of the trip

Queenstown

2008-12-08T02:02:00.000-08:00

I love it here! It is so different than the north island, tons of mountains and totally different plants. Qtown is a great town set on the banks of Lake Wakatipu on the south west part of the south island. It is full of international outdoorsy people who are all really into extreme sports. They have bungy jumping, jet boating, crazy mountain biking trails, skiing, parasailing, ect. Also, a ton of the Lord of the Rings stuff was filmed down here. Day 1: We got in around lunch and drove over to Glenorchy, which sits on the other side of the lake. It was a nice hour drive along side the lake with stunning mountains in the background. We also found this waterfall on the side of the road which led to beautiful pics. And the countryside is full of these different colored lupin flowers.

Day 2: We went jetboating, well the boys did and I watched. Apparently its frowned upon for prego chicks. We also had a rock skipping contest on the lake before we took a jeep tour through some of the back country around town. They took us to a few of the LOTR sites, driving through rivers to pan for gold (TONS of gold in these mountains), and to Skippers Canyon.

Day 3: We were supposed to head over to Milford Sound, the 8th wonder of the world, to see theintense fiords, but got rained in. Hopefully tomorrow!

Paihia and Bay of Islands

2008-12-08T01:15:00.000-08:00

When we got to NZ we headed straight up to Paihia to stay in a condo for a week. We had this place booked and were going to have fun exploring all the Northland of the North Island. Paihia was beautiful, it sat right on the bay.

Day 1: Shipwreck bay. We went in search of surf on the north west coast of the island. Unfortunately, the waves were only a few feet, but it was a beautiful area and drive. We stopped by the Haruru Falls on the way back for a quick walk out to them.

Day 2: Tutukaka coast. Again in search of surf but this time south east of where we were staying. Still no good waves, but absolutely gorgeous. Dreaming of a holiday home here one day and showing Justin my dancing skills. Day 3: My dad and brother flew into today to join us for the next 15 days. It was so good to see them and take on my brother in a game of chess. I had to play him when he was still drowsy off the flight or there would have been no way I could win. Day 4: Cape Reinga and the Giant Sand Dunes. We went to the farthest north part of the country and watched the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean come together. It was about a 3 1/2 hour drive from our place, but again an great drive. On the way back we stopped and played in the sand dunes. Day 5: We took a boat out through the Bay of Islands (theres about 144 total islands) and came across a massive pod of dolphins. They guessed there were total 45 dolphins and tons of babies. They were so active and jumpy, I loved it. We then cruised out to the Hole in the Rock (big enough to drive the boat through) and back through all the privately owned islands. We also came across a baby hammerhead shark about 4 ft. long hanging out with the dolphins. Day 6: we headed back down to Auckland to catch our flight down to Queenstown on the South Island.

all about sydney

2008-12-08T00:47:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the lack of posts, but I promise to make up for it. Heres what we have been up to for the last few weeks.

First, on our way out of OZ we went to Sydney for a few days. Over all feelings... way to expensive and crowded for our liking, but still fun to see. Expensive like $56 to park for 3 hours in the city and mostly toll roads, not our favorite.

Day 1: we went to the beaches in search of surf and ended up in Manly.

Day 2: we headed out to the Blue Mountains. BEAUTIFUL. A great hour and a half drive inland from our hotel was great and the mountains are something else. Think a tropical grand canyon.

Day 3: we went into the city to meet an old teammate of mine who now lives in here. It was great to catch up with her and see the opera house and stuff.

pics of sydney

2008-12-01T13:46:00.001-08:00

i am running out of time to do good posts (internet is really expensive here), so i will try to catch up at some point. as for our sydney area pictures, i put them all in our picasa album, so go here to see them all. http://picasaweb.google.com/kellyaida

hubby's latest hobby

2008-12-01T13:36:00.000-08:00

sad thing is he is more excited to see the movie than i am and there is at least 2 twilight references per day.

and we're off

2008-11-24T19:50:00.000-08:00

We packed up our house, sold off the car, closed the bank account and said our goodbyes to all the wonderful people here. what a bittersweet moment. We loved our little house and the great people we were able to meet, but there is still so much left of this adventure, its hard not to get excited for that. we spent our last night with our great friends the bakers for a final dinner. considering thats where we go several times a week, it was only fitting. (Thank you so much Kent, Georgia and India! You guys are the best!) After several hours with them, it was back home to check the bed one last time for deadly, flesh eating spiders (a total of 5 made it in to our house, but none were lucky enough to make it out.)

And what a better way to spend the last hour of our time here than with the Bakers at a delicious chocolate shop and some fantastic chocolate fondue. So yummy. Not to mention their lil baby had her first taste of chocolate. She looked confused at first but was soon salivating for some great belgium chocolate (who could blame her).

its thanksgiving here too

2008-11-22T03:12:00.000-08:00

I love this holiday and the last thing I wanted to do is skip it!! And what a better way to spend it than with all the great friends we were so thankful to have met here. So we had to introduce the true feast to our Ozzie friends. Heres to the Bakers, Grangers and Ryan and Sarah for joining us for a great evening. And no one cared that it was actually a roasted chicken and a turkey breast roll. yummy.

Yorke Peninsula: By Justin

2008-11-21T22:07:00.000-08:00

Apparently I am not very descriptive when describing things to Kelly, therefore she has given me permission to add a few comments about my trip to Yorke peninsula. I had a great trip with my good mate Ron. Yorke is a three hour drive from Adelaide and famous for great swell. However, it also faces Port Lincoln, the "sharkiest" spot in all Australia. On departing we offered a prayer for safety and probably should have prayed for surf as well. The three days we were their I only surfed once, and it was a bit small for Yorke standards. The last day it was a lake. As Kelly mentioned the trip became focused on fishing. We walked a large part of the peninsula on foot searching for salmon, squid and herring. Though the fish were meager, I did discover why people call Australia the land of the fly. One day we had about an 8k hike back to the truck and fish in our satchels. The flies were on us the whole 8k walk back. We got tired of swatting at them so decided to let them ride on our backs. While I was walking behind Ron I counted 56 flies at one point. When I told Ron he laughed and said we weren't even in fly season yet. I also had my first experience with kangaroo ticks. These things range in size from a pin head to a watermelon seed and there were heaps around our site. I found one on my calf, and was a little worried till I read a posting in the dunny (toilet) that they don't carry diseases like North American ticks. Go figure, Oz has deadly spiders...harmless ticks. The trip ended with me literally wrestling a herring away from a "shagg." These are a water bird that are amazing fishers and apparently like to steal fish off lines. I had my herring halfway out of the water and this shagg decides to get into a tug of war match. Luckily, I won. Anyway, it was an awesome trip. Thanks Ron, Good on Ya!!

yorke penninsula

2008-11-19T21:45:00.000-08:00

so this last week justin had a surf trip over to the yorke penninsula with a guy from our ward. this spot which was supposed to be famous for good waves had nothing the whole time they were there, so it turned into more of a fishing trip. still fun, despite his face in the one pic due to the lack of surf, and no complaints. he came home tired and eaten by ticks (apparently less deadly than the ones back home but 3 times the size). I guess there were lots of kangaroos and enu's, and these are the pics he brought back for me.

puppy love

2008-11-12T21:29:00.000-08:00

(warning: major dog missing/venting/loving and much needed attention on my part. If you are one of those who gets upset about people comparing their dog to a kid, you may want to skip this.)

so one of the hardest things about coming here, and one of the reasons we are so excited to get back, is our Koda!! now, i dont want you to think that because we have been having fun without our beloved pup, that she hasnt been up to much fun of her own. we left our pooch with my dad back in CA and she has had her own set of aventures all her own.

First there was a road trip to oregon to visit family and her best friend Luke

Unfortunately while she was there she was skunked (mostly her fault)

So it was back on the road to CA

she did a bit of hiking up in the Sierras and Kings canyon

and tried her hand at driving my car

and her latest adventure has been to scope out the best view of the IE from the roof of my dads house.

monumental

2008-11-12T21:11:00.000-08:00

i mean seriously big in the aida household! this day has been looong awaited. Justin took his last final of law school!! i know. HUGE!!! im sure you are all just as excited as I am, well maybe not. let me clarify, he didnt graduate yet. he still has one more semester left from this 3 year degree, but since he will be working for Adidas, they dont have finals! YEA!! can i get a hip-hip-hooray!!

thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

2008-10-28T21:14:00.000-07:00

thank you so much for all the love that has poured in. we are so excited and so appreciative to all of you who sent us love and encouragement. Its a bit terrifying, but non the less super exciting. heres a few details.

how far along? 13 weeks

due date? may 8
sick? yes, and it sucks. hence the reason for no fun posts

predictions? im thinking boy, but who knows

where will we be? portland

As for life here, it is still good. we ony have about 2 more weeks left in Adelaide. from here we go to Sydney for 5 days, and then off to NZ for 6 weeks. i can not believe how fast this adventure has gone. it seems like not to long ago we were packing all our bags just to get here. and now we are packing them to go. so weird. this has been the best experience and im sure this isnt the last OZ has seen of us.

Heres some pics of our weekend trip to Victor Harbor and port elliot with our good friends the Bakers

baby india baker. soo cute

by way of announcement

2008-10-05T14:36:00.000-07:00

and soon to be three
we are awaiting the arrival of our lil' babe.

coming May 2009

missionaries work

2008-09-30T19:21:00.000-07:00

last night i had the opportunity to go with some missionaries in our ward to an investigators home. i never served a mission and really had no idea what it would be like to be on one, so last night was a real learning moment. i certainly have a testimony of the truth of the book of mormon, but i dont think i have ever been asked to share it quite like i was called to last night. what an amazingly brave thing these dedicated boys and girls do each day in spreading the message of the gospel. not only that, but the missionaries here spend lots of time helping immigrants from all over the world with learning english. the service they give daily to often complete strangers is a testament to how we should all live our lives. a free, genuine compassion and helpful hand to anyone who stands in need. what a example to me.

dictionary cont.

2008-09-29T21:32:00.000-07:00

sat-nav- satellite navigator, a tomtom or
cuppa- as in a cup of tea. they dont need to finish their thoughts because everyone knows what they mean.
breaki- (pronounced breky) means breakfast. justin says everyone here sounds like they are talking to 4 yr olds. everything is shortened and usually added a "y" on the end.
good on ya- "way to go" its used both sarcastically and literally
cheeky-
ranger- (pronounced rang-er as in "the phone rang") a red head. comes from orangutan because they think they are the same color
mum- mom. but it sounds so much cuter when the little kids say it.
nappies- diapers
fair dinkum- genuine. usually talking about someone.
bumbag- fanny pack
bogan- their equivalent of white-trash or a red-neck
binny- someone who dumpster dives.
the boot- the trunk of a car. so weird.
full on- serious! can be good or bad.

Also here's a few famous ausies who we didnt know about, aside from the Keith Urban, Nicole Kidman, and Portia de'Rossi:

Eric Bana- his big role include the other boleyn girl, munich, troy, finding nemo and black hawk down. He is an ausie actor who started out actually as a comedian. its interesting though because all his roles are so serious that we know him for, it was weird watching him be a jokester. likewise for the ausies, they think its weird seeing him in all these serious roles.

AC/DC- you know, the band that brought us the smash hits of "back in black," "you shook me all night long," and more recently "rock n' roll train." they have been rocking since the 70's all the way from oz!! who knew!

Kylie Minogue- pop singer since the 80's, apparently she was big then, but we really only remember her for "can't get you out of my head" in 2001 when she wore the all white jumper with the hood. apparently they really love her over here.

Cate Blanchett- her famous roles in indianna jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull, elizabeth, babel, lord of the rings, and so many more. she is fabulous and i always figured she was from england but in fact she is a product of melbourne.

Russell Crowe- IS NOT AUSTRALIAN!!!! he is actually from New Zealand! and moved over to have a better go at acting! now save that for your trivia night.

Cadbury- was originally started in Tasmania. you know the makers of those yummy cream eggs that come out around easter time with the real looking cream in them. so good!

a day of footy

2008-09-21T21:57:00.000-07:00

justin played in his first footy match this past weekend. he has been dying to try it out ever since we got here. the men of our ward arranged a ysa vs. the marrieds game he had a great time but was a bit sore the next day. heres a few pics of the game.

i was pretty scared when this match up came about.

buggin'

2008-09-21T21:11:00.000-07:00

so we have been having quite a few bugs show up in our humble abode recently. i knew coming here it was inevitable because oz has the most bugs of anywhere, and turns out that most of them are deadly. apparently they like warm weather, good beaches and sunshine too! first we have these things called carpet beetles. they arent supposed to bite or anything, they are just very annoying! i have no idea where they come from, so i cant stop them at the source like ants. but they are everywhere and they fly! i have found them in our room, the living room, the bathroom, kitchen, everything. so we keep our eye out, vaccuum frequently (which is only the tube of a vaccuum so it takes forever on my hands and knees) and kill everyone we find.

then, last night as we go to our room for bed we find this GIANT spider on our wall. i was hoping to never even see a spider here, but on the wall above our bed made for a sleepless night. i took a picture as evidence of the big bug, mostly just for bragging rights. but let me go back to this weekend when we were talking about 2 of the worst spiders in oz with some of our friends. the ones they mentioned were the red back and a white-tip, or white-tail. I thought i would google these two spiders when i got up this morning just so i know what to look for, and to hopefully disregard the big spider as one that could eat my flesh. lucky for us, thats exactly what it was!! a huge white tailed spider probably chasing after the stupid beetles. not to mention that our bed sits on the floor and now any hope of a good nights sleep is out the window!

and how did these bugs get in you ask? well the front and back doors dont go all the way down to the ground. there is easily a good 1/2 inch at the bottom of every door in our house. so talk about free range!

olympian welcome

2008-09-17T22:41:00.000-07:00

all the olympians have been on a country wide "welcome home" tour to all the major cities. Adelaide turned out to be today, so i hoped on the tram and met justin in down town. they did a parade through the city center and ended at Victoria Sq, which is only 2 blocks from justin's work. after they had their little talking and stuff, all the olympians came down to sign autographs and stuff. being the big sucker that i am for anyone "famous", had to join in with all the little school kids, who should have been in class, to get some pics. I felt a bit awkward standing 2 feet above everyone else in the mob, and being pushed by these little munchkins, of which im pretty sure i could have taken out had i moved at all. not to mention the little brat who was yelling at me for pushing!! i mean where is the respect for your elders son. aside all the mayhem, i was able to snag a few pics with our fav athletes from the games that made it out.

this is steven hooker. he won the gold medal in the pole vault. it turned out to be a huge thing because oz has not won a gold medal in anything track and field in 40 years! he was a rockstar amongst the ausies, so we had to get a pic. this next one is justin and Linda MacKenzie. she was on the olympic gold medal for the womens 4x200m freestyle relay team in swimming, and they were truely the underdog. they pulled out an amazing win at the last second to defeat the americans and snagged a world record. this guys is Brenton Rickard, also on the swim team, he came away with 2 silvers. one in the 4x100 medley relay and one in mens 200m breaststroke.

ditcher!!

2008-09-16T13:58:00.000-07:00

put this down in the record books! last night, justin ditched his law school class! ok, so nothing to crazy for most people, but for him this is big. I am prettty sure that since I have known him, almost 5 1/2 years, that he has never missed a class and certainly never one while in law school! he must really be catching the Ausie spirit.

weekend getaway

2008-09-15T20:20:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we flew out to Brisbane (pronounced bris-bin), which is on the east side of the country about half way up, and headed north to the sunshine coast. its an area about an hour north and stretches for about an hour of beaches north of that. we stayed the first night in Noosa Heads, the north part of the sunshine coast, which is alot like the Carmel of Oz. Very nice, expensive and beautiful. We stayed in a cheap, excentric backpaker for the first night and then the rest in a condo traded down in Caloundra, which is at the very south of the Sunshine Coast. We had a blast enjoying the warm weather, sunshine, surf, beaches and all the cool stuff that part of Oz has to offer. We hiked around the Noosa Head, took a tour to Fraser Island, hiked around the Glasshouse Mountains, Justin surfed, and generally just soaked up the sun! What can I say, it was fabulous. Heres a few picks from the trip.

Noosa Heads

Dickey Beach-

named after the S.S. Dickey that ran ashore in 1893

Glasshouse Mountains

Fraser Island-

is the biggest sand island in the world. all the plants growing on it grow in sand, which is amazing considering its a rain forest and the creeks make no sound because there are no rocks. all the water on the island is fresh and crystal clear.

The Colored Sands

AFL Finals

2008-09-07T15:50:00.000-07:00

its the footy finals here and our local team made it into the first round. justins newest addiction is watching these games, so we had to go. it turned out to be a blast! what a fun game! its the best of soccer, football, and rugby all in one. to score, you have to kick the ball between the middle 2 posts for 6 points, or throught the outside goals for 1 point, and you can either kick the ball ahead, or pass it backwards. all while trying to dodge the giant guy running at you full speed who wants nothing m ore than to throw you to the ground. fabulous!

train of thought

2008-09-01T22:38:00.000-07:00

Since justin is all responsible and got himself a job, i am now at home getting lots of time to myself. my mind tends to wander too much when i have long periods of undisturbed thought, and this was what today held. it started off as what i wanted for breakfast, and ended on the things i love and dont love about daily life. ill spare you the middle. but thought i would share non the less.

things i love:

sees candy- a wonderful mom of one of our missionaries lives in LA and sent us a box of see's candies. oh so divine! justin made fun of me that i didnt even wait till we got home (or even out of the church parking lot)before diving into the box. apparently i take after my mother who once bought us a box and ate them before we got there and had to go buy another box.
mail/comments- email, blog comments, you name it, i love it. i usually feel so isolated here especially while justin is at work. i love knowing how everyone is doing, and what the heck is going on back home! thank you those who send me something weekly (to C and chix) it totally makes my day!
fresh fruit and veggie stands- i go to this great local grower stand in town and stock up on wonderful produce. i dont think i have ever eaten so many great veg's ever!
running on the beach- i love after a run, just sitting on one of the many benches overlooking the ocean. and if i have to work out alone (im a social worker-outer, i like to go with someone else) this is the way to go. best part of my day.

things i dont really like:

expensive groceries- WinCo spoiled me! i get so revolted by $7 for cereal that essentially only gives you 4 bowls! wheres my big bag of krispie rice when i need it.
expensive nuts- a little snack size bag is $7. you can buy 2 lbs. at costco for like $14. i really miss my snack of walnuts, pecans, almonds, you name it.
lack of sweet cereal- i have such a soft spot for sugar cereals. give me a good bowl of lucky charms, fruit loops, captin crunch, honeycomb, cocoa crispies, ect. and i am a happy girl. those dont exist here. which is really great for my back end but still leaves me missing an occasional pick me up.

this week

2008-08-27T03:39:00.000-07:00

i love the sound of: the crashing waves as they roll onto shore after a beautiful dayi love the sight of: an amazing sunset. as the colors fade through the cloudless sky, this simple pleasure of soaking the last days rays makes my day complete. i love the feel of: riding the tram with my hubby as we close our wonderful day in the city. seeing museums, eating at our favorite restaurant. taking an evening to attend the temple.

i love the taste of: a delicious meal for the missionaries. we have been honored to have them in our home weekly and love the company and spirit they bring.

i love the smell of: the earth after it rains

i love our newest activity of playing my sweet hubby in tennis, and occasionally winning

english to oz dictionary

2008-08-25T17:59:00.001-07:00

we joked that we needed to get a translation dictionary before we headed here so we could understand what on earth the Ozies were saying. here are some of my favorites so far.

dodgie = kind of like sketchy or questionable. mostly used in sentences like "the weather is looking a bit dodgie" or "that part of town is a bit dodgie"
Kiwi = those from New Zealand.
Footy = football, but not American. this refers to Ausie Rules Football (AFL). its like rugby, soccer and football all into one. this is the main pro sport in OZ
Rugby league/ rugby union- these are two different leagues with different rules, but i cant remember which is which, but dont confuse them because to people here they are so different.
Football= soccer. simple.
Mate- yea, they really say this all the time. "thats my mate", "thanks mate", "no worries mate", seriously all the time.
brilliant- no translation neccesary, but they say this all the time! its great!
Booking= a reservation. they are so common here. we have been turned down a few times because we didnt have a bookings and this was at little cafe type places.
Tomato Sauce- justins favorite = Ketchup. and they certainly dont use it like we do back home. justin feels jipped when he has to ask for packets and they give him one.
"easy as"= very simple. they say this all the time and i always get stuck waiting for them to finish. im like "easy as WHAT? finish the thought people!" in NZ they say "sweet as" and for the longest time i could not figure out why they were saying sweet ass, what could it possibly mean? now i know.
heaps= alot, but i giggle everytime someone says it. it sounds so funny to me.
Chips = not Lays, but french fries.

im sure ill have more, but this is a good start

olympic recap... so far

2008-08-17T16:22:00.000-07:00

after many long days and late nights of watching the olympics (for those who know my husband typically crashes for the night shortly after dinner, know this is a big deal), ive made a few observations on the games.

1. I am pretty sure micheal phelps is a fish guy like the one from waterworld. with the gills behind his ears, you know who im talking about. as the ausies say "to put it simply, hes a freak." aside from the pure talent that oozes out of him, i dont know if there is something in the water, or those new speed suits are as good as rocket packs. i dont think his 8 gold's and 7 world records will be beaten any time soon. truely one of the greatest athletes ever.

2. the ladys gymnastics events dont seem to be what they used to. I swear that the bars routines and floor events were soo much longer back in the day. as justin pointed out, i was smaller and everything seemed longer/bigger/faster then, but i am sticking by my claim. i thought they used to do more tricks on the uneven bars, and go back and forth between the 2 more. anyone else think im not crazy?

3. there are so many "sports" that quite frankly is a stretch of the word. ping pong, seriously! ive played, its fun. i dont think its up there with the likes of marathon running as far as athletic ability is concerned though. and dont get me started on the prancing horses.

4. i find it such a bummer that so many people lost money to scams selling tickets to the games, and yet so many of the seats at every event are not filled. i guess the scalpers outside are trying to make an extra buck but its leaving them empty. a couple of the funny people in oz wanted to see if people actually knew the events of the games, so they scalped tickets to fake events. they got 80 euros for the dominos final, fiji v. belarus. and $200 for the tetherball final. no joke.

5. we only get to see the stuff that australia is good at. ie, badminton, table tennis, most swimming events, rowing, and field hockey. usually the only time we catch up on how the US is doing is when they happen to be in an event with them. i never thought about that glitch when we came over here, so its a good thing the US is in just about everything. the big bummer is we dont get to see any of the dream team, water polo (they are favored to win), interviews, gymnastics, baseball, soccer, ect. major bummer!

6. it doesnt look that hard! I know these athletes work their whole lives to get ready for these games, but they make it look so easy. it makes me think i can go jump in the mix and soon enough ill be standing on that podium getting my big old medal.

awaiting

2008-08-13T04:08:00.000-07:00

a brown cardboard box. packed tightly to perfection. closed securely and neatly. postmarked to australia. soon, my beloved breaking dawn will arive.

roos, koalas & wombats, OH MY!!

2008-08-13T02:26:00.000-07:00

we went to cleland wildlife park this week to see some of the native animals here. we loved the kangaroos. they are just as cool as we thought. i also got to hold a koala (a secret life long dream of mine). it was amazing and they really do just cling on for dear life. their fur id so different than i thought it would be. its so fluffy and soft. we had so much fun hanging out with these animals. even justin had a blast feeding the kangaroo's, they were totally his favorite. also the pelicans are some of the coolest things we have ever seen. their beaks are so neat, and the ones here are HUGE!! they stand above justins waist.

glenelg

2008-08-08T18:44:00.000-07:00

here a few pics of home: above- glenelg peir

outside our apartment

the tram justin takes to school

inside our apartment, complete with borrowed stuff
our favorite ice cream place in town (i applied here for a job... still havent heard anything)
when it rains, it pours!!!

one world, one dream

2008-08-08T06:41:00.000-07:00

we love love love love love the Olympics!!! every 4 years the world comes together to compete for their home pride. what a wonderful time of year. as the athletes walk through the opening ceremonies, waving their countries flag, no matter how big or how small the team is, the coming together on the world stage is a beautiful thing. these amazing athletes, the worlds elite, put life, politics, religion, and everything else aside to stand shoulder to shoulder with their those whose also have earned a right to compete. oh, how i long to be there. to meet the wonderful people from all corners of the earth. what could i possibly make it in...

where do you pray from?

2008-08-06T03:23:00.000-07:00

THIS POST (http://segullah.org/guest-post/the-prayer-i-havent-been-ready-to-pray/) was amazing. I got it from Jess Ericksons blog, and it really got me thinking. truely eye-opening.

life so far

2008-08-06T01:11:00.000-07:00

life in oz is great. justin and i are spending so much time together. considering our lack of jobs, justins light school schedule, and our legs as our only transportation we hang out a ton. and i am loving it. we go play tennis whenever we want, walk to the beach, walk over to town with no hurry to get anywhere. we are so uused to life in the fast lane, its nice having it speed right past us as we watch together.

our little apartment is great. considering it wasnt originally furnished, we have been able to scrounge up lots of stuff to fill it. the wonderful lady we are renting from is letting us borrow all the major furniture we need. she also had some plates, bowls, cups, and a pot and pan. This wonderful family in our ward has let us borrow a tv and vcr. we have been so blessed by the people here. their generocity and pure love of helping others is a true example of love thy neighbor.

another great thing is that the food here is amazing. we have eaten out several times and never once had anything we didnt absolutely love. we have so many things on our list of places to try, and i fear we wont be able to get to them all. i have never been in a place where everything tasted good. its like heaven for my tastebuds.

in case you were wondering... yes opera and dr. phil have made it over to their tv. they also have an ER spin-off, deal or no deal, and the news/morning shows. and no i dont think the toilets rotate the other direction being this side of the equator.

overall, life is grand and we are loving the time we have here. we have been so blessed and know that our heavenly father has been watching out for us. we are so thankful to all the help he has given us, and daily see the impact in our lifes.

2008-08-01T16:39:00.000-07:00

well let me start off by saying that i HATE job searching! it sucks. i am no good at talking about myself and trying to look interested on the spot. i really just want some money.

so today was spent taking our resumes all over our little town trying to convince someone that we would be employees worth having. most people said we are about 6 weeks early, that they wont be hiring till sept for the summer rush (so hard to remember). but others, in the nicest way possible because everyone is nice here, said no. i applyed everywhere from a cafe, sports journalist, dr.s office, and curves to a retail store, ice cream place and chocolate shop (i am secretly hoping that one of the last ones pulls through). justin went for a local legal office, sunglasses shops and i think a sushi place. the only one that we have any hope for is the cafe though. it is alot like the resturant i worked at back home, and its only 2 blocks away from our house. it would be nice to have work so close.

we also ventured into the ikea in town. it happened to be right next to the airport with a direct bus to our little town. can you say perfect!! justin had never been, so it was quite the fun. we had contests going to see who could find the cheapest product of what we were looking for. ie. silverware (16 piece set for $4.50), bath mat ($3.50) and the clentcher was a laundry basket ($2.00). considering we are probably going to leave most of this stuff here when we are done, it was nice to know that it doesnt add up to much. we did buy a frying pan from a thrift store that we are going to try and smuggle back into the US. its amazing!

surf trip

2008-07-30T03:54:00.000-07:00

today we had our first road trip down to the southern tip of the peninsula we live on. since the beach we live by doesnt have surf because it is so far up int the bay, we had to drive 1 1/2 hours to the closest good breaks. no worries since we have to give the rental car back tomorrow, it was a nice send off.

the countryside here is beautiful. the more we explore, the more we love it.

we spotted our first kanga since being here. unfortunately, he missed the sign above.

home sweet home

2008-07-29T01:47:00.000-07:00

we found a house and it only took 5 days. supposedly it was supposed to take longer because alot of students come to adelaide, theres like 4 uni's (university) in the city. we slept in it last night with no electricity. it was like camping in our house, thanks to justin for packing a flashlight! we unpacked today, i brought entirely way to much stuff!

our house sits 4 blocks from the beach, 5 from the main down town of Glenelg. theres a grocery store, cafe, post office, and atm around the corner, and a tennis court just up the street.

Justin started his last year of law school today. he only goes to class tues and wed nights 5-8, three weekends in august and one week in sept. its a pretty sweet schedule if you ask me. we are going to have so much time on our hands. it will be so much less time spent on school studies than what we were both used to.

the weather is way cold. remember how it was like the worst winter in a long time in the states. yea, well the cycle continues down here. and we left summer for this?!? i thought oz was summer time all year! lets just say the 2 pairs of pants are getting a ton of use while the 6 pairs of shorts sit quietly in their new home.the adelaide LDS temple